If you haven’t heard last year’s Planet Money on campaign fundraising (I refer to this as campaign bribetributions, a hybrid of campaign contributions and blatant bribery) then you should: Planet Money wrote: [The Congressman] said, “I have put in two calls to your PAC director and I haven’t received any returned phone calls. Now why … Continue reading ““No bribe?” [the Congressman] said, “why am I taking this meeting?!””
Continuing my comments on Mitt Romney’s “very ample safety net” statement on CNN; see the first half of my post: Mitt Romney: Can You Help Us, Mr. Fix It? (Part 1)… So, as I said in Part 1, it’s very important to assess presidential candidates in a just and fair manner, and too often the … Continue reading “Mitt Romney: Can You Help Us, Mr. Fix It? (Part 2)”
So, there’s been a dust up over Mitt Romney’s “I’m not concerned about the very poor” comments on CNN. A lot of the blogosphere is mindlessly blasting this quote sans context, and the TV news even worse, so Team Romney isn’t wrong to protest how this has been “taken out of context.” Cable news … Continue reading “Mitt Romney: Can You Help Us, Mr. Fix It? (Part 1)”
Just 10 hours after the debate Saturday night sponsored by St. Anselm College and ABC News, there was another debate put on by NBC’s Meet the Press and Facebook. They’re trying to pack in as many debates as possible before the New Hampshire primary Tuesday. You can watch the Meet the Press Republican Candidates Debate … Continue reading “The Closing Arguments For America’s Future Before The New Hampshire Primary”
With love and thanks to everyone who has made my current, first semester back to college (online) possible… The History of U.S. – Latin American Relations: An Overview Nicholas F. Dupree The history of U.S.-Latin American relations is a long and bloody one checkered by imperialist aggression and exploitation. The United States had a head … Continue reading “Did You Know? Imperialist Aggression and Exploitation: The History of U.S. – Latin American Relations”
Everyone interested in understanding the current crisis in the Middle East should watch Jon Stewart’s conversation with Mansour O. El-Kikhia, a Benghazi-born professor who chairs the political science department at UT San Antonio. This is an important pro-intervention viewpoint to think about, though I differ in pivotal areas and OPPOSE American intervention in a third concurrent … Continue reading “U.S. Expat Professor From Benghazi Talks To Jon Stewart (a pro-intervention viewpoint)”
Like described by Abby Jean on the Feminists with Disabilities blog recently, I’m obsessed with public policy. It’s true. I am a policy wonk. I am endlessly interested in it. I read about it, think about it, talk about it and … write about it. (As in, what I’m doing right now.) And I do … Continue reading “Boardwalk Empire, Corruption, And Incentives For Public Servants”
Last week, like the careful student of political science I am, I was reading the full text of the Pledge to America, the new policy platform for the GOP’s Fall Election campaign… The thing that disturbed me the most is that the text so emphasizes the Constitution and a return to the Constitution, all this … Continue reading “Do The Orwellian Police State Cha-Cha!!”
To listen to WBAI radio’s roundtable discussion about the below essay, go here. This isn’t “The Great Recession,” it’s “The Great Change.” The recession–that is just a symptom of these enormous tectonic shifts going on (societally, technologically, economically, politically) and our inability to keep up has caused disruptions and economic downturn. That economic downturn is … Continue reading “Why It’s Time For Survival Politics For People with Disabilities”
As I detailed before, the New York Republican party elected far-right candidate Carl Paladino to run on their gubernatorial line, and he’s been embroiled in controversy over racist, XXX and bestial email forwards he sent. I talked about this in my last blog post; I don’t support and never post such crass material, but I … Continue reading “New York GOP’s Gubernatorial Candidate Tries To Brush Off Racist, XXX and Bestial Emails”
Terrifyingly far-right candidate Carl Paladino crushed state GOP-endorsed Rick Lazio Tuesday night and won the Republican nomination for Governor, meaning he will go head-to-head against Democratic nominee Andrew Cuomo for Governor of New York in the November 2nd election. Paladino is known for his “controversial” bigoted comments and extremist stances on the issues. Here’s a snippet of … Continue reading “Republican Revolution II: Electric Bugaloo”
WHAT DO WE WANT? WHEN DO WE WANT IT? NOW! My 9/11 anniversary post is focusing on the new WTC towers in the works now. Click here for new photos of the construction. We want that first tower up ASAP! (first dubbed the “Freedom Tower,” then changed back to the original “One World Trade Center” … Continue reading “World Trade Center, 2010”
I’m that guy in the neighborhood. Believe it or not, we live in an apartment only 6-8 blocks or so north of the disputed Park51 site, so this is about MY NEIGHBORHOOD and I feel I’m a direct stakeholder in this controversy, so I should weigh in. Knowledge of the neighborhood, and of the culture … Continue reading “Video Blog: Islamic Center on Park Place: Guy in Neighborhood Responds”
Raw Food Police: When Government Won’t Even Let You Choose What’s For Dinner This is the ultimate unacceptable act by a nanny state+police state gone awry. Police Begin “Guns Drawn” Raids on Organic Food Stores in California LA Times: Raw-food raid (features actual surveillance video of the police storming an organic grocery store, pointing guns … Continue reading “When Government Won’t Even Let You Choose What’s For Dinner”
Question: In light of Obama’s plan to expand Medicaid eligibility, is anyone in Congress noticing the MASSIVE state budget cuts to Medicaid across the country and ruminating about how that jives with this impending expansion? I fear that if states have to raise income eligibility and bring millions of uninsured onto the Medicaid rolls, that … Continue reading “Feds Fiddling While State Medicaid Programs BURN”
I’ve been away for quite some time, I know, but I haven’t stopped thinking about public policy and the way things are going. They aren’t going well. I followed the health care reform debate with a magnifying glass throughout, and came away deeply disgusted in both the final product and the process that made that … Continue reading “Nick’s Essay on America’s Decline, with Big Solutions (long)”
My friend Dan will love this. In Scrooge McDuck’s first **named** appearance in a cartoon (his first actual appearance was in Spirit of ’43) he teaches Huey, Dewey and Louie about the economy, from the origins of the types of the currency to taxes to inflation, budgeting and investing. It’s good stuff. Great primer on … Continue reading “Financial Advice From Scrooge McDuck (1967)”
Congratulations, Regina Benjamin!! I couldn’t think of a better candidate for Surgeon General than Dr. Benjamin, and I was surprised and pleased that someone from my old hometown that I am familiar with hit the big-time! Dr. Benjamin works in a clinic in Bayou La Batre just south of Mobile, Alabama (where I’m from). As … Continue reading “Alabama’s Own Regina Benjamin, Advocate For Nick’s Crusade, Named Surgeon General Of US”
44 years ago, Congress passed several historic amendments to the Social Security Act, the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Back then, there were no home ventilators, there were few medications for managing disease, there were no home Hoyer lifts, and Congress couldn’t imagine the elderly and disabled living at home successfully and independently. The technology and … Continue reading “Democrats Ignoring Long-Term Care, Activists Respond. LET MY PEOPLE GO!”
If you’re like me, you’ve been closely following reports of the attempts at “soft overthrow” by “Green Revolution” protesters clogging the streets in Iran (properly pronounced E-ron, though I admit even I mangle it frequently). Twitter, bloggers (Nico Pitney blogging at HuffPo, Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic) and various print news web sites (TIME, Reuters) … Continue reading “In-Depth Nick Analysis: Who Are The Basij? The Group That Stopped A New Iranian Revolution”
This song fits Gov. Sanford so well: “you keep on tellin’ me ‘baby I love ya,’ but MARRIAGE just ain’t your game You tell me I can have anything I want but whhhyy can’t I have your name? LYIN’ BACKSLIDIN’ callin’ each other brother with your hand in his pocket hypocrisy! yeah“ –Millie Jackson, singing … Continue reading “Ode To Governor Mark Sanford”
This topic occurred to me after reading Larry Kramer’s long rant in the Huffington Post claiming that because men outnumbered women 6 to 1 in the original Jamestown colony in 17th century America, that lots of gay sex had to be going on, and that historians are erasing gays from history out of homophobic bigotry. … Continue reading “How Will Gender Imbalance Affect China’s Future?”
Jeff Crowley from the president’s Domestic Policy Council met with the board of the NDRN (National Disability Rights Network, formerly NAPAS1) this week and a summary of how Crowley conveyed the administration’s views on the Community Choice Act was leaked to several listserves online. The disability community deserves to know what the thinking inside their … Continue reading “The Latest Leaked Info on Obama Administration’s Views About The Community Choice Act”
The Reality: Sotomayor is a moderate, who sometimes makes liberal decisions that anger conservatives and sometimes makes conservative decisions that anger liberals, like ruling against abortion clinics in the “global gag rule” case, and the loathsome ruling that public schools can punish a student for free speech written on a blog off campus. My beef … Continue reading “Reality Check: Sotomayor NOT “A Radical””
Several weeks ago, I slapped down an idiotic routine from Beck, and now, he’s at it again. This time, he’s making outrageous comments and going completely off the rails about new Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. The rallying cry of the Republicans against Obama’s nominations has been “EMPATHY IS BAD!!!” This from the same … Continue reading “Glenn Beck, in Criticizing Sotomayor, Says Empathy Is BAD, and Cites Bad Misunderstanding of Hebrew Bible”
As I posted before, Iraq is now killing homosexuals at a startling rate, and since many can’t blend in, are forced into hiding. And three safe houses have now closed for want of funding. PaulCanning forwards an urgent request from IRAQI LGBT: IRAQI LGBT started to establish a network of safe houses inside Iraq in … Continue reading “A Worthy Cause: Helping LGBT Iraqis Who Are Being Chased Down And Executed”
I’ve permanently added the “Nick’s Crusade Statement of Inalienable Rights” to the site, because human rights are the backbone, the underlying premise of everything I post here. It’s a work in progress, so please comment and suggest changes or additions. Nick’s Crusade Statement of Inalienable Rights
Last week, I read about Washington DC’s City Council agreeing to recognize out-of-state gay marriages by a vote 12-1. The Washington Post reported that numerous black churches rallied against the bill, and when it passed, demonstrations turned so loud and angry (near rioting) that the police had to forcibly clear the hallway. Marion Barry, who … Continue reading “Africans: Why The Prevalence Of Anti-Gay Hate?”
Transcription (as captioned in the video): Hello, this is Nick Dupree for the for the Nick’s Crusade blog. This is my fourth video blog, and today is the 252nd day that I’ve been in an institution because I can’t get access to community services. And it seems that the Obama administration is not going … Continue reading “Fourth “Nick’s Crusade” Video Blog: ObamaFail! Administration Refuses To Lead On Disability Desegregation”
This post is for Blogging Against Disablism Day, BADD, 2009. There’s a dark part of America’s past (and present) that few are aware of: government taking children from their families and placing them in institutions. It usually goes like this: doctors and social workers identify a disabled child, and advise the parents to send the … Continue reading “Government-Sponsored Ablism and Segregation Tears Families Apart”